Joel McHale, the actor and comedian best known for Community, joins Scream 7 to play the husband to Neve Campbell‘s Sidney Prescott.

The casting came as a surprise to some, who believed Patrick Dempsey was the ‘Mark’ who Sidney Prescott alluded to having married, and thought Dempsey would be reprising his Scream 3 role as Detective Mark Kinkaid. However, reports state Joel McHale will play a character named Mark Evans.

He joins fellow stars Isabel May, who will play Prescott’s daughter, as well as Mason Gooding, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace and Sam Rechner. It was also confirmed that Jasmin Savoy Brown would be returning.

Despite being part of the Core Four who revitalised the Scream franchise in 2022 (alongside Savoy Brown and Gooding), Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega will not be returning in Scream 7. Barrera was fired from the franchise following social media posts addressing the Israel-Hamas war, and Ortega exited due to pursuing other projects. Christopher Landon, who was due to direct the instalment, also stepped away following news of these exits.

Kevin Williamson — the creator of the franchise who penned the script to the Wes Craven-directed original, as well as Scream 2 and Scream 4 — is directing this instalment. Guy Busick, who wrote 2022‘s Scream and Scream VI, wrote the script.

Paramount is set to release Scream 7 in cinemas on February 27th, 2026.

Recommended Posts